PARIS - In the wake of two major explosions that killed 40 in security facilities in Damascus Friday, France warned that the ongoing repression by the Syrian regime could push the country towards civil war.
The French government also reiterated its attachment to "the peaceful character of the protests in Syria," all the while expressing "worries about the drift towards a real civil war to which the bloody and blind repression by the regime will surely lead."

The French Foreign Ministry also said the international community "must more than ever assume its responsibilities" and spokesman Bernard Valero indicated that France was fully unsatisfied by the Russian position on a UN Security Council resolution for Syria. "Today, it is imperative to do everything in the Security Council and other international areas in order to put a stop to the brutal ... repression," Valero said.

"We fully support the Arab plan," Valero said in reference to the Arab League measures to try to halt the violence and deploy observers in Syria.

But he also warned that France was vigilant about any efforts by the Syrian regime to fool Arab League observers and to manipulate the reality of the situation on the ground. He said Paris had learned that "political prisoners in Syria were being moved to secret locations" and that this was an attempt to dupe observers.

He reiterated a call for the violence to stop, for troops to go back to barracks, for political prisoners to be released and for the international press to be allowed into Syria.

Valero also urged Russia to do more to move the UNSC resolution process forward and he said there had been no progress on the Russian draft text.

"The meeting yesterday in no way satisfied our expectations," he said of the second day of "expert" talks in New York on the Russian draft. He said he did not know when the consultations would resume. "Given the level of repression, we call on Russia...to do everything to accelerate (the process)," the French official added. (KUNA)